The Commander And The Chief

Woosh!

"Fugetsu, what a place." Standing against a thick tree trunk, a fat police officer, wearing a loose uniform with his upper buttons open, sneered through the half-burnt cigarette in his mouth. "I once tried to get a reservation at this place, but they said I was not qualified."

"Now look at it; they are the ones who are not qualified to get help on time."

Mockery laced his words as he looked at the half-burnt building in contempt. There was not a single bit of sympathy in him toward those who perished. The co-workers around him looked uncomfortable but nodded along with his comments.

They could not be as heartless as their superior upon seeing the destruction of the place when they first arrived.

But what could they even do? They had to lick their seniors to keep their jobs. It was not that they were heartless; it was the world that took away their heart.

By the time firefighters and the police arrived at the scene, the fire had already spread out to the nearby vegetation which only fueled the fire to spread and grow.

Upon arriving at the scene of the fire, the commander of firefighters in charge of the five fire trucks that came along with the police took charge of the scene.

His priority was to see if someone was lucky enough to survive this disaster; he sent in two teams to extinguish the fire at the entrance and do a quick scan.

He gave commands to his subordinates without wasting time, as a firefighter; he hated when he was too late to arrive at the place where he was needed the most, and this was one of those places.

"Team three, you are in charge of cutting the small vegetation— anything that can catch fire. Make sure it does not spread out again! If there is anything that takes time or you cannot cut easily, spray them! We have to contain this fire as soon as possible!"

His orders were short and concise, and the whole team respected and admired him for his nature and resilience.

The first two teams wasted no time and returned with a report by the time he was done giving instructions to the third team.

Hearing that there were no survivors, his eyes dimmed a bit before they became firmer.

"Listen up everyone! There are no fire hydrants in this location; the only source of water is the water tanks we brought! Your priority is to extinguish the areas with fires that can spread around!"

The commander ordered the members of the four teams present before him, all of them just waiting for his word to make a move, "Leave the kitchen for now; the gas supply has already been blocked after it blew up! Now! Go! Go! Go!"

Everything took no more than a few minutes ever since they arrived, showing their efficiency.

Watching his men running in their suits, the commander turned to look at the police chief with a cold look in his eyes before looking away. The firefighters rushed to the fire tanks, the sound of their strong boots crushing the grass underneath their feet.

With their hands covered in heat-resistant gloves, they pulled on the hoses attached to the tanks with long folded pipes and ran to their assigned positions. Sadly these water tanks did not contain a pump system or even an areal platform or they would have had an easier time extinguishing the fire.

Splash!

Hisss!

The firefighters spent more than an hour just to deal with the fire on the outer parameters. They used all kinds of nozzle attachments to deal with different fires depending on how much it spread, its intensity, or the material that was on fire.

Bang!

Clatter!

Pillars and walls fell under the pressure of the water jets, and the fire started to die out, but it was only the start.

It took more than an hour for the firefighters to just deal with the outer portion of the restaurant where the fire was spreading out with bursts.

"What a pity, this place used to be so beautiful." Watching the mist rising, the commander muttered to himself on the sidelines.

…

Inside the restaurant, sprays of water just could be seen flying everywhere. Some were sharp like blades, while some were spread out as well. When the fire collided with the water, it sent a puff of smoke into the air, clouding the vision of the fighters.

If it were not for their gears, these fighters might have suffered from such hot fire and the steam it produced.

"Did you see that!" Suddenly one of the members in the group shouted towards his teammates. His voice was filled with alarm.

"What happened?"

"I think I saw something flashing in that place!" The firefighter pointed in the direction of the destroyed backside of the restaurant, the same room that used to be the staff room before it was destroyed.

Just before they could speak any further, the rest of them also saw some kind of shadow flickering through the fire.

"Could there be survivors?" As soon as the thought flashed through his mind, the fighter shouted something in the ear of the man standing nearby him before passing him the hose in his hands.

He turned around and rushed towards the exit of the restaurant and called for the commander.

"Commander, there is something here!" Upon hearing the shout of his subordinate, the commander was alarmed, and he rushed towards the entrance.

"What happened?" He tensed a bit, ready for any kind of bad news.

"We believe there are survivors! We saw the shadow of someone moving around inside."

"Are you sure it was not a mistake?" The reply he got did not ease his tense muscles, but it only made him more vigilant.

He could tell by the severity of the fire that there should be no survivors fit enough to move around in such chaos.

"We are not sure, which is why I came to look for you." The subordinate shook his head while taking deep breaths; his face was covered with a face shield and air filter, causing his voice to sound heavy and deep. "What are your orders, sir?"